Less than 48 hours after Snoop and Dre sang their last notes at Coachella 2012, I was walking into the Dim Mak Studios in Hollywood for their annual Post-Coachella party. Dim Mak Records has thrown a public event in the days immediately after the iconic festival ends for the past seven years, benefitting those who couldn’t attend or those who just couldn’t get enough. The lineup is always kept a secret until the artists take the stage (or until they are spotted hanging out at the party beforehand). Past years have included many Coachella alumni, including 12th Planet, Nero, Felix Cartel, DJ AM, Busy P, Sebastian, Mehdi, and members from the groups MSTRKRFT and Daft Punk. Given the caliber of previous talent, it came as no surprise when this year’s party sold out. Naturally, the speculation was flaring on the internets, with many proposing lineups based on rumors, deductive reasoning, or their best educated guess. I knew the only way to confirm was to witness it myself, so I was at the front of the line when the doors opened at 9.

I walked into the intimate second-floor studio and saw that my date and I were some of the first to arrive. Normally, this would bum me out because I like to show up fashionably late. However, Dim Mak knows how to treat the early birds right. For the next hour, we enjoyed an open bar of Heineken that easily exceeded the price of admission. The resident DJs kept a steady groove of dope house beats, and I quickly decided that all my future Dim Mak pre-gaming will take place at the Studios.

After some mingling with fellow music lovers, I made my way to the floor just in time to see Dim Mak founder and head-honcho Steve Aoki take the stage and introduce the first surprise guest of the night: Michael Woods. Woods has been producing for over a decade in his native England, but Aoki revealed that he has recently moved his home to Los Angeles. His early roots are in Trance (under the moniker Warrior), but he has branched out to other genres in recent years. He played a great 1-hour set at the party, building off the energy of the crowd with a solid mix of Electro-House. He also dropped some new remixes, including one of his debut hit “Warrior” that originally came out in 2000. I had missed Michael Woods at a number of previous festivals including Ultra and Electric Zoo, so it was great to see him up close and personal when I was least expecting it.

First surprise guest... Michael Woods

LA Riots came on at midnight, although it was no surprise since he announced it on his Facebook earlier that day. Of course, the lack of surprise had no effect on his high-energy performance, and he proved that he was still fresh after two weekends at Coachella. The hour flew by, and Steve Aoki took the stage before I had time to catch my breath. Aoki delivered a great set as he always does. He played a number of new tracks for the packed dance floor, including a new Knife Party remix and one from Travis Barker and Kid Cudi. He closed with a new moombahton mix to cap off the night...

Another surprise guest... dubstep titan Bare

...or so I thought. It was 2 AM and the bar had closed, but the party didn’t stop. Aoki called up dubstep titan Bare to crush the dance floor with heavy bass in the wee hours of the Wednesday morning. He kicked it off with a brand new remix, before launching into a killer set that included many originals paired with the likes of Flux Pavilion, Black Sabbath, and that song Levels as remixed by some guy with long, black hair and a half-shaven head..

Bare tried to close his set with some West Coast hip-hop, but we convinced him to give us one last taste of bass before we left. As I was walking out of the venue, I noticed a conspicuous middle-aged couple among the dedicated few that remained at 3 AM. They turned out to be Bare’s parents, so I jumped on the opportunity to shake their hands and thank them for their contribution to the awesome party. The night was a perfect remedy for the post-Coachella blues, and I‘m already looking forward to the same treatment next year.